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Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) German name(s): "Kanadagans" Size: 75-110 cm; wing span 1.25-1.85 m Body mass: 2.6-6.5 kg (male); 2.4-5.5 kg (female) Wing loading [g/cm2]: ca. 2.0

Europe: Family Group 2 Family Group 2 Table Common Loon Red-throated Loon Mute Swan Whooper Swan Greylag Goose Pink-footed Goose Greater White-fronted Goose Snow Goose Canada Goose Barnacle Goose Brent Goose Red-breasted Goose Common Eider Common Scoter Velvet Scoter Common Goldeneye Common Shelduck Ruddy Shelduck Northern Shoveler Eurasian Wigeon American Wigeon Garganey Northern Pintail Mallard Eurasian Teal Gadwall Common Pochard Red-crested Pochard Ferruginous Duck White-headed Duck Tufted Duck Ring-necked Duck Smew Red-breasted Merganser Goosander Great Crested Grebe Black-necked Grebe Little Grebe Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Canada Geese are large geese with a long neck. Except for their white ear coverts and cheek patches, they have an entirely black head and long neck. The chest and centre of the belly, as well as the vent, undertail coverts and the rump are off-white to creamy. The flanks are finely barred creamy and grey-brown, while the upperwings are grey-brown with creamy edge lining, giving them a "shingled" appearance. The short, rounded tail is black. Their irises are black. They have a nearly triangular black bill. The sturdy legs and fully webbed feet are dark-grey. Goslings first have a yellowish plumage, which later turns grey.

Taxonomy, classification See Canada Goose at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Canada Goose is available HERE . Canadian Geese are a migratory species of North America. There are various races - for details see e.g. Wikipedia . They are permanent residents roughly in the northern half of the United States, over the entire width of the continent. Northward of about 45 degrees they are breeding migrants, reaching the Arctic in northern Canada. In the southern half of the United States and in far-northern Mexico they are winter visitors. A smaller population in central and northern Europe is mostly introduced. Although most Canada Geese in Europe will be descendants of introduced birds, it has been established that some individuals have also colonized northern Europe naturally. Most European birds are of race "parvipes"(?). The European population has established itself permanently in spots of Ireland/Northern Ireland and basically all of England and Wales, in (near-)coastal northern France, the Benelux countries and along the German North Sea coastline. They are also permanent residents along the southern Norwegian coastal fringe. There is a wintering population in Denmark, the islands between Denmark and Sweden, and the German Baltic Sea coastline, which migrate regionally to breed in southern and coastal Sweden and along the southern coastal fringe of Finland. Elsewhere, there are smaller populations in isolated spot along inland waterways in northern France and in Germany.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "parvipes" C. Pears reports finding Canada Geese, race "parvipes"(?) regularly in various locations in the Lake District, Cumberland, England. Others were found in the river Thames at Moulsford, South Oxfordshire, England, UK, in December 2014. H. Dahlem-Senger reports spotting Canada Geese, race "parvipes"(?) regularly along the river Rhine in central western Germany, near Walluf, Hessen, where they breed annually. M. Eaton reports finding Canada Geese, race "parvipes"(?) in Hyde Park, London, England, in September 2019.

Photos

Race "parvipes"(?)

ADULT

Sex unknown

Canada Geese on the banks of the river Rhine (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Walluf, Hessen, Germany, January 2018]

Family of Canada Geese on the banks of the river Rhine, with an adult seen in a near-frontal view in the foreground
(photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Walluf, Hessen, Germany, January 2013]

Lateral view of a Canada Goose (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Hyde Park, London, England, September 2019]

Lateral view of a Canada Goose (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Walluf, Hessen, Germany, January 2013]

Lateral view of a Canada Goose (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[River Rhine, between Walluf and Schierstein, Hessen, Germany, April 2019]

Lateral view of a Canada Goose, here seen preening (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[River Rhine, between Walluf and Schierstein, Hessen, Germany, April 2019]

Lateral view of a Canada Goose (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Hyde Park, London, England, September 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a Canada Goose, upright stance

Near-dorsal view of a Canada Goose, hunched stance

Family of Canada Geese (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Walluf, Hessen, Germany, January 2013]

Comparison of a Canada Geese with two Greylag Geese (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[River Rhine, near Eltville, Germany, May 2022]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Close-up lateral view of Canada Goslings (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Walluf, Hessen, Germany, January 2013]

Adult Canada Goose with a batch of goslings (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Walluf, Hessen, Germany, May 2018]

Close-up lateral view of a Canada Gosling (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Walluf, Hessen, Germany, May 2018]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal

Mobility: Partially migratory

Elementary unit: Pair/flock

Canada Geese in Europe are considered to be introduced, but they have established themselves and their habitual patterns. In England and along the coastal fringe of southern Norway, along the coastal fringe of the Benelux countries, as well as along the River Rhine, they are sedentary. In Denmark they have winter quarters, presumably of those breeding along the Baltic Sea coastal fringe in Scandinavia.

Canada Geese can live in areas where the ground freezes over, but they will leave if water surfaces freeze over
(photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Bowness-on-Windermere, Lake District, England, UK, January 2011]

Canada Geese swimming in single file (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[River Thames at Moulsford, South Oxfordshire, England, UK, December 2014]

Food, Diet

Canada Goose with goslings feeding on pieces of an aquatic plant (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[River Rhine, between Walluf and Eltville, Germany, May 2022]

Canada Goose gosling feeding on grass (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[River Rhine, between Walluf and Eltville, Germany, May 2022]

Ohhh, yum, daisies! (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[River Rhine, between Walluf and Eltville, Germany, May 2022]

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